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Heartbreaker (Dionne Warwick song)
Encyclopedia
"Heartbreaker" is a 1982 single released by American pop
and soul
singer Dionne Warwick
. The song was written by The Bee Gees' Barry
, Maurice
and Robin Gibb
, with Barry Gibb's distinctive backing vocal being heard on the chorus. The unique brothers' sound can also be recognized in the syncopated rhythm of drums programming, the bright strings unisons and the powerful synthesizer brass sections.
The song was a hit around the world. It peaked at number ten on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100
chart in January 1983, and was a number-one adult contemporary hit. In the UK, the track reached number two for two weeks in November 1982.
Warwick admitted in The Billboard Book of Number One Adult Contemporary Hits by Wesley Hyatt that she was not fond of "Heartbreaker" (regarding the song's international popularity, she quipped, "I cried all the way to the bank"), but recorded it because she trusted the Bee Gees' judgment that it would be a hit. It turned out to be Warwick's most successful solo hit of the 1980s. The Bee Gees recorded a version, with Barry Gibb on lead vocals, which was featured on the album, Their Greatest Hits: The Record
, as well as their Love Songs
album.
In 2004, J-pop
singer Junichi Inagaki
released a Japanese-language
cover version
of "Heartbreaker" on his album Revival II. In 2005, the German reggae
-pop
band Blue Lagoon
included a cover version of "Heartbreaker" on their album Clublagoon.
they recorded
this song in 1994 while the Still Waters sessions.
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
and soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
singer Dionne Warwick
Dionne Warwick
Dionne Warwick is an American singer, actress and TV show host, who became a United Nations Global Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization, and a United States Ambassador of Health....
. The song was written by The Bee Gees' Barry
Barry Gibb
Barry Alan Crompton Gibb, CBE , is a singer, songwriter and producer. He was born in the Isle of Man to English parents. With his brothers Robin and Maurice, he formed The Bee Gees, one of the most successful pop groups of all time. The trio got their start in Australia, and found their major...
, Maurice
Maurice Gibb
Maurice Ernest Gibb, CBE was a musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. He was born on the Isle of Man, the twin brother of Robin Gibb, and younger brother to Barry. He is best known as a member of the singing/songwriting trio the Bee Gees, formed with his brothers...
and Robin Gibb
Robin Gibb
Robin Hugh Gibb, CBE is a British singer and songwriter. He is best known as a member of the Bee Gees, co-founded with his twin brother Maurice , and elder brother Barry....
, with Barry Gibb's distinctive backing vocal being heard on the chorus. The unique brothers' sound can also be recognized in the syncopated rhythm of drums programming, the bright strings unisons and the powerful synthesizer brass sections.
The song was a hit around the world. It peaked at number ten on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
chart in January 1983, and was a number-one adult contemporary hit. In the UK, the track reached number two for two weeks in November 1982.
Warwick admitted in The Billboard Book of Number One Adult Contemporary Hits by Wesley Hyatt that she was not fond of "Heartbreaker" (regarding the song's international popularity, she quipped, "I cried all the way to the bank"), but recorded it because she trusted the Bee Gees' judgment that it would be a hit. It turned out to be Warwick's most successful solo hit of the 1980s. The Bee Gees recorded a version, with Barry Gibb on lead vocals, which was featured on the album, Their Greatest Hits: The Record
Their Greatest Hits: The Record
Their Greatest Hits: The Record is the career retrospective greatest hits album by the Bee Gees, released on UTV Records and Polydor in November 2001 as HDCD. The album includes 40 tracks spanning over 35 years of music...
, as well as their Love Songs
Love Songs (Bee Gees album)
Love Songs was the third Bee Gees compilation album in four years, though the first to cover a specific musical style. A proposed album of love songs was in the works around 1995 when the Bee Gees recorded old hits like "Heartbreaker" and "Emotion" from the late '90s, but that project was soon...
album.
In 2004, J-pop
J-pop
, an abbreviation for Japanese pop, is a musical genre that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1990s. Modern J-pop has its roots in 1960s music, such as The Beatles, and replaced kayōkyoku in the Japanese music scene...
singer Junichi Inagaki
Junichi Inagaki
is a Japanese popular music singer.- Biography :Inagaki was born and raised in Sendai, the capital of Miyagi Prefecture, and graduated from Miyagi Prefectural Technical High School. One of his earliest musical influences was Stevie Wonder. While a student in middle school, he joined a local band...
released a Japanese-language
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of "Heartbreaker" on his album Revival II. In 2005, the German reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
-pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
band Blue Lagoon
Blue Lagoon (band)
Blue Lagoon is a German pop group featuring Estrella and David O'Joseph.- Studio albums :-Singles:Others* "Allright"...
included a cover version of "Heartbreaker" on their album Clublagoon.
Chart performance
| Chart (1982) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Austrian Singles Chart Ö3 Austria Top 40 Ö3 Austria Top 40 is the name of the official Austrian singles chart, as well as the radio show which presents it, aired Fridays on Hitradio Ö3. The show presents the Austrian singles, ringtones and downloads chart. It premiered on 26 November 1968 as Disc Parade and was presented by Ernst Grissemann... |
10 |
| Australian Singles Chart | 2 |
| Canadian RPM RPM (magazine) RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,... Top Singles |
15 |
| Danish Singles Chart | 2 |
| French Singles Chart | 17 |
| German Singles Chart Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
10 |
| Irish Singles Chart Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured... |
2 |
| Dutch Top 40 Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 is a weekly music chart, which started as the "Veronica Top 40", because the offshore radio station Radio Veronica was the first to introduce it. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" until 1974, when the station was forced to stop broadcasting... |
5 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart | 4 |
| Norwegian Singles Chart VG-lista VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by... |
2 |
| Spanish Singles Chart | 3 |
| Swedish Singles Chart | 1 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 4 |
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
2 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
10 |
| US Billboard Hot Black Singles Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,... |
14 |
| US Billboard Adult Contemporary | 1 |
| US Cash Box Top 100 | 15 |
See also
- List of number-one hits (Sweden)
- List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1982 (U.S.)
External links
The Bee Gees version
"Heartbreaker" is a song by The Bee Gees in 1994 released in 2001 from the album Their Greatest Hits: The RecordTheir Greatest Hits: The Record
Their Greatest Hits: The Record is the career retrospective greatest hits album by the Bee Gees, released on UTV Records and Polydor in November 2001 as HDCD. The album includes 40 tracks spanning over 35 years of music...
they recorded
this song in 1994 while the Still Waters sessions.
Music video
The music video of the song was released in 2002, which features the various videos and concerts.Personnel
- Barry GibbBarry GibbBarry Alan Crompton Gibb, CBE , is a singer, songwriter and producer. He was born in the Isle of Man to English parents. With his brothers Robin and Maurice, he formed The Bee Gees, one of the most successful pop groups of all time. The trio got their start in Australia, and found their major...
- vocals, guitar, drum programming - Robin GibbRobin GibbRobin Hugh Gibb, CBE is a British singer and songwriter. He is best known as a member of the Bee Gees, co-founded with his twin brother Maurice , and elder brother Barry....
- vocals - Maurice GibbMaurice GibbMaurice Ernest Gibb, CBE was a musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. He was born on the Isle of Man, the twin brother of Robin Gibb, and younger brother to Barry. He is best known as a member of the singing/songwriting trio the Bee Gees, formed with his brothers...
- vocals, keyboard, guitar - Alan KendallAlan KendallAlan Kendall is an English musician and was the lead guitarist for the popular band the Bee Gees, before they retired the band name due to the death of Maurice Gibb in 2003...
- guitar - Kevin Savagar - keyboards
- Ben Stivers- programming
- Femi Jiya, John Merchant - engineer